Recently, we were invited to a flavor tripping party hosted by the Berry Fairy, Jenny Wang. We’ve already written about flavor tripping tablets here, so this article will cover flavor tripping with the actual Miracle Berry fruit and combine tasting notes from TastingBuds Peter and Kristina.
- A flavor tripping berry AKA Miracle Berry – Peter kind of smashed this one keeping it in his pocket
Note – if you can’t make it to your own flavor tripping party, you can have your own by buying the tablets or the berries on Amazon:
Kristina’s Take on Flavor Tripping
What is this “flavor tripping” thing I kept reading about on Twitter? That phrase seemed to pop up on my feed pretty often via my foodie friends. At a BBQ last weekend, I was schooled on the ways of the flavor trip by guest blogger Vicente, so I was pretty excited about the Berry Fairy’s flavor tripping event at The Belmont.
When we arrived at the venue, we each got one Miracle Berry each and instructions on what to do. The Berry Fairy folks had set up a nice array of foods to try while flavor tripping, but before I ate the berry, I wanted to sample the wares at the Tito’s Vodka table. My favorite was a drink created by the Tipsy Texan called the Balsamicosmico, a dreamy concoction mixing Tito’s, unsweetened cranberry, orange liquor, and balsamic reduction. This drink was not served in a martini glass like a regular cosmo. Instead, it was injected into large, ripe strawberries. Imagine how beautifully balsamic vinegar brings out the taste of ripe strawberries – now add a touch of vodka and smooth orange liquor. Enough said.
- The Berry Fairy chatting it up
After a couple of the Balsamicosmo strawberries, I moved on to the flavor tripping. I was a first-timer, so I did not want my sense of taste influenced by my more experienced cohort. I took notes on my experience and then re-grouped with Peter and a few others to share information.
The overall flavor tripping experience was great because of the venue, the hostess, and the interesting people in attendance. I definitely enjoyed how the berry changed the flavor of very familiar foods, and my sweet tooth appreciated the intense sweetness of some of the fruit selections. Flavor tripping is a fun experience best enjoyed with a group of friends with a wide variety of foods. I would do it again, but it’s probably an activity I would only participate in occasionally.
- Cool Flavor Tripping alcoholic beverages
Peter’s Take on Flavor Tripping
Since I had flavor tripped before, I had my tasting strategy all planned out to maximize the experience. I wanted to taste all of the foods both before and after tripping to get a better sense of the Berry’s effects on the provided foods. Since I knew that the trip would only last for a limited amount of time, I first created a plate and made sure to get enough for at least 2 solid bites of each type food.
Once I had made a mental note of how everything tasted pre-trip, I put the berry in my mouth for a couple of minutes like the provided instructions said (which was new to me since I had previously used the tablets). The berry was a little harder to use than tablets b/c you have to keep the juices in your mouth for a couple of minutes vs just letting the tabs melt on your tongue. The berry doesn’t really taste strongly of anything, and there’s a little bit of tough opaque meat (reminded me of lychee or longan meat) inside of a thin red skin.
- Peter’s first plate of flavor tripping foods
After coating my tongue with berry juice, I went straight to the lime first (as suggested by others). My once sour lime tasted extremely sweet so I knew that I was ready to go. I kept going back to the lime every 10 minutes to make sure I was still tripping. Overall the berry was a success – the effects lasted for about 30 minutes and I tore through about 40 different kinds of food in that time and got to try everything at the party.
Having now tripped on both tablets and berries, I would say that the berries feel more authentic since they are the real deal, but they aren’t worth the hassle after you’ve done it once. The tablets are cheaper, more portable, and their shelf life is much longer. As a side note, at this Berry Fairy Party, the company mBerry was selling packs of tabs for you to take home.
- Flavor Tripping – Ranier Cherries, Tomatililos, Rhubarb
As far as other differences go, I could have sworn that when I tripped with the tablets before, spicy foods were no longer spicy. This time around with the berry though, spicy stuff was still just as hot. Maybe that’s one difference between the berry and the tablets.
Overall, I had a lot of fun trying the wide variety of foods at the Berry Fairy’s party and I am glad that I got to compare the real berry to the tablets that I had before.
What things taste like on the flavor tripping berry
The Combined Tasting Notes
- apple vinegar – very sweet
- balsamic vinegar – much sweeter than usual
- balsamic strawberry (Balsamicosmico) – sweet initially, much sweeter when tripping afterwards
- bitters – no longer bitter but didn’t taste good
- cheeses – no noticeable change (queso fresco, brie, goat cheese, etc.)
- crackers – no change (were there to dip in the other foods)
- ginger – no change – very spicy still
- grapefruit – more bearable
- Tito’s Vodka grapefruit shot – much sweeter
- Greek yogurt – used to be sour, sweet yogurt taste, not tart at all like Dannon yogurt
- green apple – awesome super sweet instead of tart
- hot sauces (3-4 kinds) were still hot, just slightly sweeter
- hummus – no big change
- Jalapeno – starts off sweet, ends a little hot
- lemon – great like lemonhead candies or sweetened lemonade
- lime – very sweet!
- mustard – not very mustard-y – surprisingly sweet
- Pequin pepper – still VERY hot
- pickle relish cupcake – much sweeter like a cupcake – originally like cornbread with jalapeno
- pickle – less sour and slightly sweet – no vinegar taste
- pickled jalapeno – slightly sweeter at first, still hot a little later
- rainier cherry – super sweet – was bland originally
- rhubarb – killed the strong bitterness – ended up tasting like celery w/ a hint of kiwi
- small pickle – slightly sweet
- salt and vinegar chips – not much of a vinegar taste, a little salty
- Sriracha – still hot but sweet this time
- strawberry – candied strawberry
- sun dried tomato – none of the sourness, sweet tomato flavor, creamy
- Tobasco – still pretty hot but slightly sweet
- tomato – super sweet
- tomatillo – tastes much fruitier and no bitterness – big change – not good originally
- Trechas – normally salty/spicy chile powder, now sweet and slightly tangy – Peter thought it was still slightly spicy
Are those sour patch kids in one of the pics? Genius idea! How were they? Let me guess…..sweet?!
Hehe – yep sour patch kids! the sour taste goes away and it’s just pure sweetness.
We covered those in the last Berry Tripping review so didn’t think to add them to the list.
For those interested in purchasing fresh miracle fruit, you can buy them on my website at: http://www.ethanbradley.com/ . Thanks!
No alcohol? Those were some of my favortie experiences…
We’re Hosting a Flavor Tripping Party Right here in Schertz, Tx, just 5 min from San Antonio and 55 min. From Austin @ the Nature’s Origins Grand Opening Celebration & Taste Tripping Event (all natural, organic, vegan shop). We will be featuring the Mberry products as Nature’s Origins is an Authorized Re-seller and Distributor for the area. If your looking to aquire Mberries They’ve got them avalible in store (17305 IH-35 North
Suite #106, Schertz, TX 78154-1242 (210) 401-8467) or online @ http://www.naturesorigins.org! The Taste Tripping Event is October 9th 8pm at the Store, there will be a huge variety of food, from limes to good cheeses to New Castle Beer to sour patch kids! $15 Advance & $18 @ the door. To buy advance tickets go to http://www.naturesorigins.org or call 210-779-3376 ask for Chris.
Cheers Everyone!